GENETIC CLUES TO WHY WE OVEREAT
發現“貪吃”基因 

Scientists have discovered one likely reason some people eat to live and others live to eat.
為什么有些人吃東西是為了活著，而另一些人活著是為了吃？科學家們發現了一個可能的原因。

Researchers at the University at Buffalo in New York have found that people with genetically lower dopamine – a neurotransmitter that helps make activities and substances more rewarding – find food to be more rewarding than people without it. In other words, they are more motivated to eat, and they eat more.
紐約州立大學水牛城分校(University at Buffalo in New York)的研究人員發現，與其他人相比，由于遺傳因素導致體內多巴胺含量較低的人覺得食物更令人滿足。換句話說，他們吃東西的動力更足，吃的也更多。多巴胺是一種神經遞質，能讓某些行為或物質給人們帶來更大的滿足感。

The findings, which appear in Behavioral Neuroscience, offer insights that could inspire treatment programmes for obesity, and maybe even genetically targeted drugs.
這些研究結果刊登在《行為神經科學》(Behavioral Neuroscience)期刊上，由此提出的見解可能會為肥胖癥治療項目帶來啟發，甚至可能為基因藥物提供靈感。

Researchers measured the body mass of 29 obese adults and 45 who were not obese. They also swabbed DNA samples from inside their cheeks, had them fill in eating questionnaires and had them perform a series of tasks.
研究人員測量了29名肥胖成年人與45名不肥胖的成年人的體重，還用棉簽從他們的臉頰內側擦取了DNA樣本，讓他們填寫關于吃東西的調查問卷，并讓他們完成一系列任務。

Both obesity and the genetic make-up associated with fewer dopamine receptors predicted a significant response to food's rewarding power. Participants for whom food was most rewarding consumed more calories. What is more, obese participants clearly found food to be more rewarding than non-obese participants.
肥胖和與多巴胺受體較少相關的基因構造，都預示著對食物令人滿足的力量做出強烈回應。認為食物最令人滿意的參與者攝取的卡路里更多。此外，與不肥胖的參與者相比，肥胖參與者顯然認為食物更能帶來滿足感。